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a/n: Thanks to Onisius who has been relentless in her pursuit of making this better.


Aftermath Pt 4

Sun Morning
Major Charles’ House

Gem had been unable to get any sleep at all and now his father was more than an hour overdue. He knew that a million things could have gone wrong and he was quickly losing hope. He paced frantically to-and-fro on the front porch, watching the daylight slowly seeping in. He was acutely aware of every second passing by and he knew that it was becoming less and less likely that they had succeeded. He made his way back inside the house, and with a heavy heart started to gather his meagre possessions together. In the event that they failed and the Major didn’t return, Gem was to find his sister and try to make a new life for himself, far away from Delaware. But Gem did not think that he was going to be able to do that. He would find a way to get both his father and Jarod out. If they’re still alive, his mind stubbornly insisted.

“Dad!” He screamed

He ran out into the driveway when he heard the van pulling up. His heart was trip-hammering in his chest and he threw himself into his father’s arms. He was so relieved to see his father that he had not even registered the fact that Jarod was not there.

“Dad. I was so worried. I didn’t think you were coming back”. Gem burrowed even further into his father’s body.

The Major enveloped his son and started to sob.

“Jarod I am so sorry.”

Gem froze in his grasp and tried to extricate himself.

“Dad, what happened? Where’s Jarod?”

The Major dragged his weary body up to the house and collapsed in defeat. He would never be able to tell anybody what had happened. He would never be able to relate what he had done, not to anyone.

“We will have to try again. But son, he’s alive. I saw him. He knows we are going to try again. Next month son. Next month. We are going in again. Next month.”

Gem did not like the way that his father sounded. He was rambling and he wanted desperately to know what had happened. Why didn’t he bring Jarod? If he had been able to talk to him, why wouldn’t he bring him home, what had gone wrong? His father was clearly exhausted and an emotional wreck.

“Dad, you go and have a shower, I will make you something to eat and then you can get some sleep. We can talk after.”

The Major pulled Gem down onto the couch and held his face in his hands, the same way he had just held Jarod's. He pulled Gem towards him and kissed him on the forehead.

“Just hang on Jarod, I am coming to get you.”

Gem stiffened in his grip. He wanted to tell his father that he wasn’t Jarod, that it was him, Gem, but the words died on his lips when he saw his father’s face.

“Dad, please tell me, what happened?” How could he have seen him, talked to him, and not brought him? What had happened? But the Major was in shock and had curled on the couch and had fallen into an uneasy sleep. Gem gently placed a blanket of him and went into the kitchen to prepare some food. He would let his father get some rest and then they would talk. As Gem prepared some scrambled eggs for himself, his mind wandered to Jarod. It seemed that Jarod was never far from his thoughts. He had constant nightmares about the things he imagined that they were doing to him. He had asked his father if he could talk to Sydney or Miss Parker, in the hopes that if he found out what was actually happening, he might be able to get control of his rampaging imagination. Generally, Gem found his abilities were a positive thing, but sometimes he wished he could just turn his mind off.

10am Sun Morning
Miss Parkers House


By now, Miss Parker had finally accepted that the rescue attempt had failed. She would have heard by now if the Pretender had gone missing. There would have been a full-scale manhunt in operation. She had known that it was not a sure thing, but she had hoped that this would be an end to this nightmare. She picked up the phone the dialled the number that the Major had given her.

“Hello” a hesitant voice on the end of the line.

“Gem, it's Miss Parker” She imagined the way his eyes would light up when he knew it was her. He was so very much like Jarod, even in his mannerisms. “Gem, please put your father on.”

“Miss Parker, I'm sorry, but he is asleep.”

She could hear the disappointment in his voice and she wanted to reach out to him.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know!” Gem wailed. He had managed to control his emotions all morning, but he couldn’t hold it in for much longer. “He came back and said that Jarod was alive and we would try again next month. But Miss Parker, I am scared, dad is……funny…..”

“Gem, I am coming over. Tell me where you are.” Parker was already making herself ready to leave.

Gem froze. His father had been very clear in his wishes that neither Sydney or Miss Parker was to know where they were staying. Gem knew that his father still did not trust her completely, but Gem wanted so badly to talk to her. He knew that his father was in shock, and suffering from emotional exhaustion, but the knowing didn’t make dealing with it any easier. Gem knew that he was smart, a genius even, but he was still a child when it came to dealing with his emotions. His entire life he had been forced to suppress his emotions and he was only just beginning to learn how to cope with them. Most of the time they were a good thing to have, but Gem found that they were also very powerful, and at times like this, not easy to control. He envied other people who seemed to have such easy control over themselves.

“Gem? Gem are you still there?” She was gentle with him. She could hear the uncertainty in his voice and she was trying very hard not to push him.

“I’m here. I don’t know what to do.” The pleading in his voice was plain.

“Tell me where you are. Gem, please. I can help.” She closed her eyes and held her breath. She wanted to scream at him to give her the address.

Finally he told her. She knew what a difficult decision it must have been for him. She was already out of the front door, tossing the phone carelessly on the couch. She drove at breakneck speed and was at the front door in under ten minutes.

As she climbed out of her car, Gem was waiting at the front porch. He stood stock-still as she approached. As she made her way up the stairs, she could see the unshed tears sparkling in his eyes. And without even thinking, she folded him into a warm embrace. She guided him over to the bench on the veranda and they sat down. She rocked him back and forwards hushing him with nonsense words. She breathed in deeply of his scent, reminding her vividly of a different boy, one from a different life. She stroked his hair as he clung to her desperately and she waited patiently for his emotions to subside.

When he looked up at her, tear stains had tracked down his cheeks, that were flushed red with emotion. Her heart jumped in her chest and all thoughts of her Jarod were driven from her mind. She kissed his forehead and asked the question that had been burning in her since early this morning.

“What happened? Gem, please, what went wrong?”

Gem wiped angrily at the tears on his face and looked up at her.

“I don’t know Miss Parker, honestly I don’t.” He ducked his head as if he expected a rebuke, or punishment for dishonesty. “Dad came home without Jarod and he just kept saying sorry to me. I think he thinks I'm Jarod. He said he talked to him. Said he was alive and okay, but that’s all, and now it's like he’s asleep, but it's not……”

“Shhh……it will be alright. Jarod is fine, I am sure of it. We would have heard by now if anything was wrong. Sydney would let me know….”

“Jarod is as far from fine as he can get!” Major Charles made his presence known as he stood in the doorway. “What the hell are you doing here?” He growled, he would not allow Parker get her hands on Gem as well.

Gem froze for a moment at the sound of his father’s voice. He turned around and saw fury like he had never seen before blazing from his father’s eyes.

“Son, move away from that woman!” He had locked his eyes on Parker and did not even give Gem a glance.

Parker stiffened as she felt Gem slowly rise and move away from her. She had not taken her eyes from The Major's. She rose regally, her eyes boring into him.

“Who the hell do you think you are talking to?” How dare he, after all that she had done, all that she had been through. “Where have you been for the last seven months while I have been killing myself trying to save Jarod? You can take that self-righteous crap……”

“Dad! Please! She’s only trying to help.” Gem stood between his father and Miss Parker. He looked from Miss Parker to his father, begging him to stop this.

But the Major only had one thing on his mind. The picture of Jarod's face as had forced himself to re-cuff him was the only thing he could see, the sound of his voice begging him not to leave, still ringing in his ears. That would haunt him for the rest of his life.

“Well Miss Parker it seems you have an advocate here.” Still not taking his eyes from her.

“Dad, what's going on? What happened with Jarod? Please why won't you tell me?” Gem pleaded.

“Yes Miss Parker, why don’t we tell him exactly what happened?” His voice was ice-cold, his eyes never leaving hers. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, but there was no warmth in it. He gently pushed Gem out of his way as he approached Miss Parker. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Miss Parker took a step forward, reaching behind her reflexively, but realising that she had left her gun at her house in her rush over here. Instead, she planted her hands firmly on her hips. Her heart was beating fast and she was no longer aware of the boy’s presence.

Gem took a hesitant step backwards in shock. He had never seen his father lose his temper like this before and he was horrified by what his father might be implying. And Miss Parker’s anger was so intense, it reminded him of Mr Raines. Gem shrank back from that memory and watched in horror as Miss Parker approached his father. She looked like a predator.

“What do the hell do you want me to say?” She took another step forward.

“Do you want me to say how he has ruined my life? How I hunted him? How that just before I shot him in the back, he begged me to let him go? How I stood by and watched while they dragged his sorry rat-arse back to where it belongs, and put him back in his cage? How for the last six months I have watched while they broke him in half, even helped them to do it? Well it's all true!”

“No” It was barely a whisper. Both Miss Parker and Major Charles, shocked at the sound, turned to look at Gem, who had stood silently by, forgotten in the heat of the moment. His mouth formed a perfect O, his eyes wide as he started to shake his head back and forth in denial.

“I won't let you touch him. You people will never get your hands on him.” The Major was looking at Miss Parker as if she was about to grab Gem and drag him back to The Centre. The Major was imagining Gem sitting in the cell next to Jarod and the two of them being used against each other as a tool of coercion. He took a step towards his son and flinched as Gem took a step back, bumping into the hand-rail on the veranda.

His eyes went from his enraged father back to the horrified Miss Parker.

“No it can't be your fault.” As he was trying desperately to deny it, he could tell by the look on her face that it was the truth. “How could you?” He started hitching in breaths, fighting back the tears. “I thought you were my friend! And the whole time you were lying.” He choked back a sob and pushed blindly past his father, running back into the house.

“Gem!” Miss Parker called out after him. She made a move to chase him but was pulled up sharply by an iron grip on her arm.

“Don’t!” The tone of his voice was enough to stop even the Ice-Queen. Then he continued in a softer tone. “The last thing he needs now is to think you are chasing him.”

The Major took in a huge breath, let go of Miss Parker’s arm and sat down heavily on the bench. He put his head in his hands and his body shook with giant sobs.

Parker looked from the door back to Major Charles and decided to sit down next to him. She had to find out what had happened with Jarod.

“Major, please tell me what happened with Jarod.” Her voice was flat and emotionless. All the fury of a moment ago was gone.

The Major looked up at her and related the tale, leaving out the part where he had been forced to re-cuff Jarod.

“So you just left him there?” She was incredulous. She got up and started pacing.

“We are pushing the envelope on the time already, even fit and healthy, it's a big ask to cover that amount of distance in that time, and Jarod couldn’t even stand. Even with two people, there is no way we could have even dragged him out of there. Not in that amount of time. We need to buy another hour. You should have warned me that he might be in that bad a shape.” He had known that Parker and Sydney had held things back from him, and his body shook with the thought of how much worse things must have been for Jarod when he wasn’t cooperating.

Parker sighed and looked at the Major. Her voice was barely a whisper and she was fighting hard to hold back the tears. She had imagined that now he was working that things would have been easier on him. It was the only comfort that she had had.

“I didn’t know. I had hoped that………”

“Once you had made him compliant that he would no longer be tortured.” Gem finished for her. He was standing in the door, in the exact same pose that his father had held not ten minutes ago.

The three of them got up and moved into the kitchen at Major Charles’ urging. It was clear the Major was exhausted and the heavy tension in the air was not helping matters. They sat, no-one wanting to break the silence. Parker was looking at Gem who was stubbornly standing with his back to her, making the coffee. When the coffee was prepared and Gem could find no further excuse, he sat, still refusing to look at her. Parker reached out to take his hand, but he withdrew it violently.

“Did you really send Jarod back? Is it really your fault?” It was clear that he was hoping that it had all been some horrible misunderstanding.

Parker and the Major spoke with Gem long into the morning, trying to explain the complicated situation that they were in. But by the end of it, Gem had some kind of understanding of what had happened, but he knew that he could never look at her through the same eyes again.


Sydney's House.

By mid-morning, Sydney had given up any hope that Jarod had escaped. He was praying now that Jarod was still alive and that Major Charles had not been caught. Something must have gone wrong and he needed to speak with Broots. He decided against the call, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to himself on the small hope that perhaps Jarod got out after all and no-one had thought to tell him.

But he could not stay one minute longer in this house. It was not all that unusual for Sydney to be lurking around The Centre halls on a weekend, completing some project or other. So he made his way to The Centre and made for his bonsai in the greenhouse. He had been greeted at the door by security and all seemed business as usual. He knew that his presence her would be reported to Raines and that if anything was awry in the Pretender Project, there was no doubt Raines would be down in short order. But no-one summonsed him or bothered him and he spent most of the day working on his tiny plants, trying to calm himself. He would wait until Major Charles contacted him, and they would just have to go from there.


Sun Morning
SL-27

Jarod had been shaved by the sweepers and was dragged, still dripping with the icy-cold water, to be presented to Mr Cox. He still could not stand and the cold water was only serving to intensify the muscle cramping in his legs and shoulders. As they dumped him in a plastic chair in Cox’s office, he tried to immerse himself in a mini-pretend. It was a technique that usually served him well. But lately, it had been more and more difficult for him to escape the brutal reality of his situation. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the feel of hot water against his body. Water so hot that it stung. But it had been so long, that he no longer had any memory of the sensation of warmth at all. He was jolted back to reality as a sweeper delivered a sharp blow to the back of his head, knocking him forward, out of the chair, banging his head on the front of Cox’s desk, falling onto his hands and knees.

“Pay attention rat!” The nameless sweeper almost dislocated Jarod's shoulder as he hauled him back into his seat.

Mr Cox walked in imperiously and looked at the wet and shivering Pretender, a trickle of blood seeping from his forehead.

“Good morning Jarod.” He seated himself comfortably in the plush leather chair behind his big oak desk. It was not often that Cox conducted his sessions in his own office, but he was feeling in a strange mood today. He wanted to be surrounded by the things that made him feel the most comfortable. He resented that Lyle had taken the weekend off and he had been stuck here. He picked up his favourite piece, a handsome squirrel, and started patting it absently.

“Have you been enjoying the weekend so far? It must be nice to have a break from all the sims, get some rest and relaxation in.”

Jarod grunted a reply and looked at the squirrel with mild interest. He had to admit that it was a fine specimen, and expertly preserved. He envied the simplicity of it's existence. It no longer experienced any pain or suffering. Jarod wished that it could be over for him as well.

Cox noticed the look and smiled at Jarod.

“It's fine work isn’t it? Although I would love to find a way in which we could preserve the eyes. The eyes are after all are, the windows to the soul.” He placed the squirrel down carefully and he looked back at Jarod.

“Jarod, perhaps you could help me out. I do have the smartest man on the planet here and I am sure the tower wouldn’t mind me using you for a little personal project, on the side so to speak.”

Jarod shifted in his seat, his muscles beginning to cramp again and he frowned as he heard the sweeper behind him move forward. He looked up at Cox and took a deep breath before he answered.

“I don’t think it can be done.” He hung his head and clenched his body, waiting for the blow that he imagined would be coming.

But instead, Mr Cox busied himself with some papers, ignoring Jarod completely.

“Ohh well, it was worth a try.” He turned his smile back on Jarod and sat and stared at him for a period of time.

Jarod lowered his head and tried to ignore the penetrating gaze. He thought he caught the scent of his father’s aftershave again. Jarod's head snapped up and he tried to shake the dream off. He had convinced himself that the whole thing had been nothing more than a vivid dream, but some small part of him refused to believe that. He looked at Cox who was mildly amused at his reaction.

“Jarod, we are going to try this again today. Now I want you to tell me everything you know about the location of the Gemini Project. You may have fooled that idiot Lyle, but we both know better don’t we?”

Jarod shifted in his seat again. Lyle was not an idiot and he wanted to tell Cox to shove it, but the looming bulk of the ever-present sweeper hovering on the edge of Jarod's vision made him think twice. Jarod had learnt quickly that it was best to keep his observations to himself. Sweepers had no sense of humour at all.

“Is there anything you would like to share with the class Jarod?”

Jarod was tempted to wipe the smile off that smug bastard’s face, but he stopped as the meaty weight of the sweeper’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, reminding him of his place in the scheme of things.

Jarod looked back down to the floor. He was shivering, caused by the combination of the wet clothes that hung loosely on him and fear. He had told them everything, but they never believed him. He had even made some things up, in the hopes that they might think he was trying at least. But when nothing turned up, he was only punished more severely.

“I think you are trying to avoid the answering me Jarod. Tell me what you know about the location of the Gemini Project.”

“I don’t know anything else Mr Cox.” He finally mumbled.

“That’s just too bad Jarod.” Cox smiled and picked up two pairs of handcuffs and threw them at one of the sweepers who deftly caught them.

“You know what to do. And Jarod, let me know when you change your mind.”

Cox watched apathetically as the sweepers hauled Jarod out of the room. He waited until they were almost at the door.

“Wait, I almost forgot.” Cox walked forward, smiling, holding a syringe in plain sight. Jarod cringed and tried to struggle, but the two sweepers had a firm grip.

“What's in that?” He was eying the syringe warily. Jarod had had more than enough experiences with Cox’s drugs, and was not eager for any more.

“Nothing dangerous, I assure you. Just a little stimulant to help keep you awake. I would hate to think that you wasted your first weekend off sleeping, this should keep you alert until Monday.” He jabbed the syringe into Jarod's arm and gave it a satisfying pat as he finished.

He sat back down as the sweepers proceeded to drag a soon to be very alert Jarod back to his cell. He had reluctantly come to the conclusion that perhaps Lyle had been right, Jarod knew nothing about how to find the Gemini Project. But it had really been just another excuse to play. Cox had other things to attend to today and so he was content to let Jarod stew in his cell for the rest of the day.

By the time they were approaching the cell, Jarod could feel the stimulant kicking in. All of a sudden, he seemed to have an enormous amount of energy. His leg muscles seemed to be functioning again. He twisted in the grips of his captors and managed to get his arms free. He delivered a punishing blow to one of them and spun around and hammered the other across the back. He made a mad dash up the hallway, heading for the elevator, although what he expected to do there was anybodies guess, for he had no way of gaining access to it. He pounded furiously on the button and spun around as he heard the sweepers behind him. He backed up against the elevator doors and snarled like a trapped animal. The drug was now coursing through his system and he was powerless to stop himself, he was completely wired and felt like he wanted to jump out of his skin.

The two sweepers advanced on him warily, one was slapping a baton he had retrieved into his open palm.

“Come on Rat, time to put you back in your cage.” He took another step forward.

The two sweepers easily outweighed Jarod, but they were being very careful. The Pretender was crazed and whatever Cox had given him had turned him into a madman. Jarod hunkered down into a crouch and prepared to launch himself at them. The first sweeper narrowed his eyes and waited for the attack. The second sweeper turned, his side facing Jarod and waited for the coiled Pretender to leap. Had Jarod been able to think clearly, he never would have fallen for such an obvious ploy, but he launched himself and took the full force of the baton in his stomach. His breath whooshed out of him as he crumpled to the ground. The sweeper that had just belted him with the baton now used it to grab Jarod around the neck. The thick shaft cutting off Jarod's supply of oxygen. The other sweeper grabbed both of Jarod's legs and they proceeded to carry a madly thrashing Jarod back to his cell.

After tossing him in the cell, the two breathless sweepers delivered some kicks to subdue the manic Pretender. And after five minutes of more blows and struggles, they finally managed to get his hands cuffed back to his ankles and left a screaming Jarod tugging frantically at the cuffs.

Jarod finally managed to get some control of himself but he felt like he was climbing out of his skin. His entire body was twitching and he had never wanted to be able to move so much in his entire life. He rocked backwards and forward trying to ease his frustration. Every nerve in his body was screaming and he felt that if he couldn’t get up and move he would go insane. He could feel the strong stimulant running through his body and his mind was trying to tell him that it would pass, breathe, it couldn’t possibly last forever. Jarod closed his eyes and made a conscious effort of monumental will to calm himself. He started meditating, trying to take himself very far away from this place. He managed to achieve some sense of control and it became slightly easier as the hours dragged by ever so slowly, but it was the hardest thing he thought that he had ever had to endure.

Monday 8am
SL-27

Lyle rode the elevators down to the sub-level in a better mood than he had been in a long time. His weekend had been incredibly satisfying. He had not realised just how depressing it was being stuck down here for such long periods of time. It was just exhilarating to get back out into the sunlight and take in all the pleasures that nature had to offer. He straightened his tie and smiled as the elevators came to a halt. But now it was time for work, and Mr Lyle was a man who enjoyed his work.

He stopped in briefly at the surveillance room, but Cox was nowhere in sight. He briefly considered waiting for Cox to get back, he wanted to know what he and his Pretender had been up to all weekend. But he just couldn’t wait. He was almost skipping up the hall on his way to Jarod's cell. He keyed in the code and was vaguely excited by the fact that he did not know what to expect.

He looked down at Jarod sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was clear that he received a beating sometime during the weekend, and by the looks of him, he had had little or no sleep at all.

“Lyle?” It was little more than a hoarse whisper.

Lyle knelt down beside Jarod and suppressed the smile as he saw how the Brain Trust had been restrained. Had Cox left him like this all weekend? Jarod’s eyes also had a glazed look about them, and he seemed to be having trouble focusing.

“Jarod, let me help you. That bastard Cox is going to pay for this.” His voice held just the right touch of anger he thought. He pulled a handcuff key out of his pocket and unlocked the cuffs. Jarod sighed in relief as he watched Lyle throw the detested things in the corner. Lyle picked up one of Jarod's lifeless hands and gently started massaging it.

“Jarod, I'm sorry. I never should have gone away and left you for so long.

“They all leave me here. Dad left me here. He doesn’t care.” Jarod tried to focus on Lyle's face, and he smiled weakly. “But you never do. You always come back.” He looked back down at his hands and shifted slightly. As the drug had slowly worn off, Jarod had come to a decision. The dream had convinced Jarod that he would never get out of here, that this was his life now and that he should try and make the best of it. He swallowed his fear and told Lyle what had taken him all night to decide.

“I……I…..want…..would like……. more than this.” Jarod's voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around the cell, his eyes finally coming to rest uncertainly on Lyle's.

Lyle smiled, reached out and ran his gloved hand along Jarod's jaw. Jarod pulled back, afraid that Lyle might deliver a blow. He knew that Lyle wouldn’t hurt him, but it had become such a natural reaction that he couldn’t help himself. He instantly regretted it when he saw the look of surprised hurt on Lyle's face.

“Jarod, you know I wouldn’t hurt you don’t you? I know how hard it's been for you, but it's been hard on me too. Having to watch what goes on, not being able to do anything. I have tried to protect you the best I can….” Lyle stood and started to leave. “….but there is only so much I can do. I know it's not enough.” He shook his head.

“I know that you have tried Lyle.” Lyle was the only friend that Jarod had. He was the only one that hadn’t betrayed him, left him here to die. He was the only one that was doing anything to help. He cast his eyes back down to the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you willing to do Jarod? What more are you willing to give up to get more than…….. this?” Lyle swept his hand around the room. “They already have what they need.”

Jarod thought about that for a moment and then looked up at Lyle.
“Anything.”









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